I've Lived With a Secret

I’ve lived with a secret for most of my life. The secret has often consumed me with shame, and my attention to it has stolen countless hours from my relationships, my kids, my art, and my teaching. The secret is: I struggle to accept, much less love, my body. 

Decades of cycling through painful behavior have brought me to this place, where my lifetime of being a mover, and a somatic researcher, has brought me to a road to healing.

Am I healed? Whole? In total love with my body? No, and maybe that will never come. But I have figured out the road I need to travel, and I have begun walking down this path to learn to accept and love myself, body and soul. The road is somatic movement, a way of allowing the body to speak for itself, a way of listening to my inner wisdom. 

How about you? Do you:

  • feel shame about your body, making you numb to your body’s cues—like hunger, thirst, fatigue, and other emotions?

  • find yourself working hard to prove yourself because you don’t feel worthy, perfectly imperfect, as you are?  

  • carry a lot on your shoulders, including the shame imposed by weight stigma?

  • feel shame participating in activities that seem “meant for” smaller bodies, or feel excluded from living in your body fully and with unapologetic delight?

  • feel you are not allowed to have fun or take pleasure in your body?

Imagine if...

  • You were more connected in tune with your body and learned how to accept it as it is... 

  • You had new ways of accessing your own body’s resources for support in a very physical way 

  • You felt that your value is unconditional and unrelated to your shape or size 

  • You were more aware of your own abilities to make an impact in the world and to set boundaries to outside forces that might undermine your confidence in your path 

  • You could experience living in your body fully with unapologetic delight accessing your innate ability to play and experience joy and pleasure.

If this resonates with you, then I want to invite you to join me for my Body Story Workshop where we will use somatic movement to let go of shame and walk down the path to personal acceptance. 

You can register HERE for my Body Story Workshop on Sunday, March 27 from 4-5:30 pm Eastern Time via Zoom.


Odelia Shargian